Street-crossover for railways.



PATENTED AUG. 2, 1904.

F. A. BREWER.

STREET CROSSOVER FOR RAILWAYS.

APPLIOATION FILED FEB. 2. 1904.

N0 MODEL.

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UNITED STATES Patented August 2, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

STREET-CROSSOVER FOR RAILWAYS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 766,164, dated August2, 1904. Application filed February 2, 1904. Serial No. 191,752. (Nomodel.)

To all w/tmn it Til/(Ly concern:

Be it known that I, FRANCIS A. BREWER, of Manlius, in the county ofOnondaga, in the State of New York, have invented new and usefulImprovements in Street-Crossovers for Railways, of which the following,taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear,and exact description.

This invention relates to improvements in street-crossings for railroadswhere the street or driveway crosses the railroad at grade, and refersmore particularly to a system of crossover plates or bed-pieces runningparallel with and at the inner and outer sides of each rail and in closeproximity thereto, so as to afford a substantially smooth crossoverflush with the surface of the rails.

The common practice is to lay planks of wood upon the ties or over thesleepers with their upper faces flush with the surface of the tracks;but it is well known that the varying climatic conditions cause theseplanks to swell and warp to such an extent as to loosen theirfastenings, and therefore the planks are insecure and are frequently thecause of serious accidents unless frequently repaired. It is also wellknown that these planks are of short duration and that it is necessaryto frequently replace the same with new planks and that owing to thebroad bearing on the tie or sleepers the moisture accumulates under theplanks and in winter freezes and heaves the planks upwardly, so thattheir upper faces during the winter season are almost always above thesurface of the track and causes the accumulation of snow and ice uponthe rail, which is diificult to remove and interferes materially withtraiiic. My invention is designed to obviate these difficulties byproviding metallic plates or bed-pieces which are angular incross-section and are each provided with a lengthwise flange having itslower edge resting upon the ties or other support and its upper facedisposed in a substantially horizontal plane coincident with the uppersurface of the rails. The object, therefore, is to make the bearing ofthese plates or bed-pieces upon the ties or other supports as narrow aspossible in order to prevent the heaving of the same by frost or ice andat the same time produce a light, strong, and durable metal approachwhich is secured to the ties or other supports and is also braced to therail, thereby serving not only as a crossover, but also as an additionalsupport for preventing the spreading of the rails.

Other objects and uses will appear in the subsequent description.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a portion of arailway and street crossing, showing my improved crossover system ofplates or bed-pieces. Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view through oneof the rails and the metallic plates or bed pieces adjacent thereto.Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a portion of one of the angular. platesor bed-pieces, showing particularly the manner of bracing the same tothe rail. Figs. 4 and 5 are perspective views of a portion of one of theinner angular plates and alsoa portion of one of the braces, showing themanner of interlocking one with the other. Fig. 6 is a similarperspective view of a portion of one of the outer plates and a portionof one of the braces secured thereto. Fig. 7 is a sectional view similarto Fig. 2, showing a modified form of plate and bracing means as appliedto the rail.

Similar reference characters indicate corresponding parts in all theviews.

In the drawings 1 have shown a portion of a railway system at itsintersection with the street-crossing and consisting of the rails a a,which are mounted upon suitable ties I). At the intersection of thestreet with each rail are placed bed-pieces 1 and 2, those of each pairbeingarranged at the outer and inner sides of the rail paralleltherewith and in close proximity thereto, with their lower edges restingupon the ties 7) and their upper faces disposed in a horizontal planesubstantially coincident with the upper faces of the rails. It nowappears that these bed-pieces 1 and 2 are of substantially the sameheight as the rail, and each consists of a cast or wrought ironangle-plate having an upper horizontal flange 3 and an upright orsubstantially vertical flange 4, the

' to the opposite sides of said rail, and the outer edges of thesehorizontal flanges are formed integral with and are therefore supportedby the upright flanges 4, and it now appears that each of thesebed-pieces is composed of a horizontal flange and a vertical flangeunited at substantially right angles to each other, which forms a lightbed-piece and may be readily mounted and placed in operative positionalong the rails; but it is obviousthat instead of making the bed-platecontinuous from end to end it may be made up of sections arranged end toend .in cases where the street is of considerable width. It is alsoapparent-that the lower bearing-faces of the flanges 4:, which rest uponthe ties, are comparatively narrow, and therefore afford but littleopportunity for the accumulation of ice or frost at such bearings, whichmight tend to heave the bed-pieces or throw'them out of alinement.

In order to prot'ectthe inner free edges of the horizontal flanges 3against crushing loads or strains, I provide a series of braces 8atintervals throughout the length of each bedpiece, each brace beingdetachably secured to the edge of the flange 3 adjacent to the rail (0and also detachably secured to the flange 4:, thereby'forming a seriesof diagonal braces supporting the flange 3. These bed-pieces are alsobraced against the web of the rail by suitable brackets 9, which in thisinstance are formed integral with the brace 8 and are preferably made ofcast-iron or equivalent material, the brace 9 being provided with plates10, which fit against the web of the rail at its junction with the headand base and may be used as fish-plates at the meeting ends of therails, if desired. These plates 10 abut against the head and base-flangeof .the rail and serve to lock the bed-pieces 1 and 2 to theirrespective rails to keep the upper faces of the bed-pieces always flushwith the top of the rails. The edges of the bed-pieces 1 and 2 adjacentto the rail are formed with dove' tail sockets 11, which receivedovetail projections 12 in the brackets 8, whereby the bedpieces andbrackets 8 are detachably interlocked with each other to facilitate themanufacture and assemblage of these parts. Secured to the flange 4: ofeach bed-piece are a series of slottedlugs or projections 13, whichreceive clamping-bolts 14: on the brackets 8, whereby said brackets arefirmly secured to the flanges 4. Although I have described thesebrackets 8 as' separate from the bedpieces in some instances-as, forexample, when the bed-pieces are formed of cast metal said brackets maybe cast integral with flanges 3 and 1 to serve the same purpose, and thebrace 9 and brace 10 may also be formed integral with the bracket 8 ormay be formed from separate pieces secured to said bracket .or to anyother part of the bed-pieces, the object being to hold the bed-pieces infixed relation to the rail and at the same time to enable the bed-pieceto partially support the rail.

The lugs 13 are secured to the inner faces of the flanges 4 and may beeither separate from or integral therewith, and the slots which receivethe bolts 14 are preferably open at their inner sides, so that thebrackets 8 may be placed in operative position before the bedpiece issecured along-the rail.

The edges of the horizontal bed-pieces 2'at the inner sidesof therailare depressed longitudinally at 15 beneath the upper face of the railforforming a longitudinal groove 16 to receive the flange of thecarwheel; but otherwise the sections 2 are substantially the same assections 1.

flanges of the z The upper surfaces of the horizontal flanges I 3 arepreferably roughened by longitudinal and transverse grooves 17 and 18 toprevent horses from slipping thereon, as it is evident that theseintersecting grooves form a series of intervening ribs or projections,as l9,which are adapted to be engaged by the horseshoe to afford areliable footing. bed-pieces 1 and 2 are also formed with brack- Theends of the ets 21 to partially close the open ends between the flanges4: and adjacent sides of the rail, so as to prevent the trackmen orpedestrians from accidentally catching the foot therein. The ends of theinner bed-pieces 2 are preferably connected by tie-bars 23, which aresecured to the end faces of said bed-pieces by clamping-bolts 24 for thepurpose of holding them in fixed relation to each other and to the railsto.

In Fig. 7 I have shown a slightly-modified form of bed-piece in whichthe rail-engaging plate, as 10, is formed integral with the upperflange, as 3, and this plate 10 is interlocked with the head and base ofthe rail and also engaged with the web to support the inner edge of theflange 3', and in this instance the plates 10 and vertical flange, as 4,are braced against inward compression by a tierod 8, which is clamped tosuitable lugs 25 and 26, formed, respectively, on plate 10' and flange4:. It will now be seen that when these bed-pieces are assembled alongthe rails a chamber is formed between each bed-piece and adjacent faceof the rail to receive. any water or snow which may tend to accumulateon the rail, and this moisture is absorbed in the road-bed, which isusually of broken stone or similar material.

The above description of my invention is believed to be suflicient toenable any one skilled in the art to construct and operate the same, andit will be apparent that the parts may be somewhat modified from thesereferred to in the drawings without departing from the spirit of theinvention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is

1. The combination with one of the rails of a railway, of an angle-plateparallel with and in proximity to the rail and consisting of ahorizontal flange in substantially the same horizontal plane as the headof the rail, a vertical flange resting on its lower edge and supportingthe horizontal flange, and a bracket secured to one of the flanges andengaged with the head and base of the rail to keep the horizontal flangeflush with the top of the rail.

2. The combination with one of the rails of a railway, of an elongatedmetal flange standing vertically on one of its lengthwise edges andsupporting a horizontal flange with its upper face in a planesubstantially coincident with the upper face of the rail and a platebearing against the head and base of the rail and secured to one of saidflanges.

3. The combination with one of the rails of a railway, of an elongatedmetal flange standing vertically on one of its lengthwise edges andsupporting a horizontal flange with its upper face in a planesubstantially coincident with the upper face of the rail, and a bracketbetween the rail and plate.

1. The combination with one of the rails of a railway, of an angle-plateparallel with and in proximity to the rail and consisting of ahorizontal flange in substantially the same horizontal plane as the headof the rail, and a vertical flange resting on its lower edge andsupporting the horizontal flange, and a brace between the vertical andhorizontal flanges.

5. The combination with one of the rails of a railway, of an elongatedmetal flange standing vertically on one of its lengthwise edges andsupporting a horizontal flange with its upper face in a planesubstantially coincident with the upper face of the rail, and a bracketdetachably secured to the plate and seated against the web of the rail.

6. The combination with one of the rails and ties of a railway, metalbed-pieces at the inner and outer sides of the rail each having ahorizontal flange in the plane of the head of the rail, and a verticalflange with its lower edge resting on the ties, each bed-piece havingmeans engaging the rail to hold the horizontal flanges in the same planeas the head of the rail.

'7. In a street-crossing system for railways,

the combination with a rail, of an angle-plate having a horizontalflange and a vertical flange resting on its lower edge and supportingthe horizontal flange, and a bracket removably secured to the horizontaland vertical flanges and bearing against the rail.

8. The combination with the rails of a track, of crossover-platesrunning lengthwise of and parallel with the rails, one at the inside andone at the outside of each rail, each plate consisting of a horizontalflange and a vertical flange, the latter resting on its lower edge andsupporting the horizontal flange in the same plane as the head of therail, each plate having means engaged with the under side of the head ofthe rail to prevent the vertical movement of the plate independently ofthe rail.

9. The combination with the rails of a track, of crossover-platesrunning lengthwise of and parallel with the rails, one at the inside andone at the outside of each rail, each plate consisting of a horizontalflange, and a vertical flange, the latter resting on its lower edge andsupporting the horizontal flange in the same plane as the head of therail and a tie-bar between and above the bases of the rails andconnecting the plates at the inner sides of the rails.

10. The combination with the rails of a track, of metal crossover-platesat the inner sides of and parallel with the rails, and tie-bars betweenand above the bases of the rails and connecting said plates.

11. The combination with the rails of a track,

metal crossover-plates at the inner sides of and parallel with therails, each plate having a horizontal flange and a vertical flange, thelatter resting on its lower edge and supporting the horizontal flange,and braces between the flanges of each plate.

12. The combination with the rails and ties of a track ofcrossover-plates running lengthwise of and parallel with the rails, oneat the inside and one at the outside of each rail, each plate consistingof two flanges united at substantially right angles to each other, oneflange resting edgewise on the tie and holding the other horizontally,the horizontal flange having ribs on its upper face.

13. The combination with the rails and ties of a track ofcrossover-plates running lengthwise of and parallel with the rails, oneat the inside and one at the outside of each rail, each plate consistingof two flanges united at substantially right angles to each other, oneflange resting edgewise on the tie and holding the other horizontally,and braces between each plate and adjacent face of the rail.

14. A crossover-plate for railways consisting of two lengthwise flanges,one being disposed at substantially right angles to the other, andbraces between the flanges bearing against the web of the rail.

15. A crossover-plate for railways consisting of vertical and horizontalmetal flanges dovetail socket, and a brace fitted in said united at oneedge, the vertical flange resting socket and clamped to the lug. IO onits lower edge and supporting the other In Witness whereof I havehereunto set my' flange, and the latter flange having a roughhand this16th day of January, 1904:. 5 ened top surface for the purposedescribed. FRANCIS A. BREWER.

16. A crossoverplate for railways consistl/Vitnessest ing, of two metalflanges united at one edge, one H. E. CHASE,

flange having a slotted lug and the other a MILDRED M. No'r'r.

